City Council Minutes 1999 04 06 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Davidson called for City Attorney introduction. Sam Light, City Attorney, read by title only, Ordinance No. 1294, Series 1999 - An Ordinance Amending Title 17 Of The Louisville Municipal Code To Set A Maximum Floor Area Ratio Within "Downtown Louisville" As Defined Herein. Davidson called for staff introduction. Paul Wood, Planning Director, stated that Ordinance 1294, Series 1999, if authorized, would establish a maximum floor area ratio requirement for the area generally described as 'Downtown Louisville'. The second reading/public heating was continued from the March 16 City Council meeting to allow the Planning Commission to review the ordinance and make a recommendation to the City Council. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the ordinance on March 18. The Commission's motion to approve a resolution in favor of the ordinance failed by a vote of 2-3. Ordinance 1294 proposes to establish a maximum floor area requirement for Downtown Louisville. The proposed maximum floor area ratio (FAR) has been 0.52, which has been based in large part on the results of the downtown traffic study. Based on the traffic study, the Framework Plan establishes a maximum recommended total build out area of 354,000 square feet for the portion of the Downtown District west of the railroad tracks. This recommendation reflects the limited capacity of the downtown road network, which has been foreseen as one of the limiting factors for the ultimate build out of downtown. The FAR limitation also relates to the potentially limited ability to provide significant additional parking areas, which will be needed as downtown building area increases. The draft of the ordinance introduced at first reading proposed that a maximum FAR of 0.52 be established for the Downtown Louisville area defined as the property zoned CC on both the east and west sides of the RR tracks and the CB property along County Road on the west side of the tracks. The FAR was to be applied as a maximum on an individual lot basis. Based on City Council comments at subsequent meetings, a draft proposing some second reading amendments has also been prepared. Those second reading amendments would make the FAR requirement a pool of available square footage rather than a lot-by-lot maximum FAR. The draft with proposed second reading amendments also modifies the area of applicability to be that on the west side of the RR tracks only, eliminating the CC zoned property that extends over to Highway 42 on both the north and south sides of Pine Street. The Planning Commission reviewed both proposed drafts at their March 18 meeting. The first reading draft was referenced as Version 1 and the proposed second reading amended draft was referred to as Version 2. The final action of the Commission failed to forward a recommendation of approval on either version. In a general sense, the Commission had mixed opinions on whether the proposed maximum building area might be too low. Several commissioners felt that the proposed figure was low enough that it would likely remove the economic feasibility of redevelopment projects downtown, particularly given 20